There was something bizarre, sad and deeply unsettling about Donald Trump's much-hyped "bombshell" announcement on the US presidential election. Rather like a James Bond villain addressing the world from his lair, the billionaire spoke to camera via the internet to "reveal" that he would offer $5m to sick children if President Obama produced his college records. The only thing missing was a bomb and a timer.

Nevertheless, the stunt had the desired effect that Trump stunts always do – lulling people into thinking that, love him or loathe him, Donald Trump is, first and foremost, a celebrity, a television star, and an entertainer. An outlandish buffoon with some of the most ridiculed hair in the world, but essentially harmless.

However, there is another side to Trump, as the 1 million viewers who watched my film, You've Been Trumped, on BBC2 this week can attest. And this Trump is not harmless.

Trump's first career is as a property developer, and his foray into Scotland to build a golf course has resulted in the needless destruction of a site of special scientific interest. It led to the arrest and imprisonment of myself and a colleague. Meanwhile, life has been made a misery for local residents whose only crime was wanting to live in their homes in harmony with the environment. And there is widespread fear Grampian police have been acting as Trump's private security force.

But from the thousands of tweets and emails we have received this week following the broadcast, what really gets viewers' ire up is not so much what Trump did, and even how he behaved, but how he was able to get away with it. And this is a story that has not yet run its course.

Trump is a businessman out to get the best deal he can. He uses his celebrity to open doors closed to others. But it is the job of our political leaders to protect the public interest.

Trump certainly got his way when he convinced the Scottish government to ignore years of careful environmental planning and give him permission to build a luxury resort on what one scientist called "the crown jewels of Scotland's natural heritage".

But perhaps more troubling is the blind eye Alex Salmond (the development is in Salmond's own constituency) and the Scottish government have turned since. When in July 2010 my colleague Richard Phinney and I were arrested and put in an Aberdeen jail cell and charged with "breach of the peace" for interviewing Trump's greenkeeper, the National Union of Journalists called it an "unprecedented" infringement of press freedom. It was also a reflection of the kind of intimidation felt by local residents, who believed the police were firmly on Trump's side in the many disputes that arose during construction.

We put these concerns and others to Salmond – and the cabinet secretary, John Swinney – more than two years ago. But our requests for an interview were turned down. Salmond and his ministers also passed up two opportunities to see You've Been Trumped at the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh and at dozens of cinema screenings up and down the country.

But only now, following the public furore sparked by the film's BBC broadcast, has Salmond broken his silence, admitting the film raises deep concerns among people who have seen it. He has written to Grampian police's chief constable for an explanation.

Why has it taken more than two years to do so? The only logical answer is that Salmond and his government have been hoping that, in their silence, the truth would not be revealed. To the residents who have had to deal with the Bond villain Trump and his cronies, Salmond's response – or the lack of one – is deeply insulting and they are right to call it a cover-up.

And to the many people who have been shocked, dazed and saddened by what they have witnessed on the small screen this week, the implications for Scottish independence could never have been more pressing.